'Don't Lecture Us About Nuclear Developments': Russia Tells United States

Russia rejected US President Joe Biden's criticism of Moscow's plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus today, claiming that the US has been deploying such weapons in Europe for decades.

Russia on Saturday (May 27) dismissed US President Joe Biden's criticism of Moscow's plan to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus, claiming that Washington has been deploying such weapons in Europe for decades. Russia said on Thursday that it was moving forward with the first deployment of such weapons outside its borders since the Soviet Union's disintegration in 1991, and Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko said the weapons were already on the move.

Biden expressed an "extremely negative" reaction on Friday to reports that Russia is moving forward with plans to deploy tactical nuclear weapons in Belarus. The Russian nuclear deployment plan has been condemned by the US State Department, news agency Reuters reported. 

"It is the sovereign right of Russia and Belarus to ensure their security by means we deem necessary amidst a large-scale hybrid war unleashed by Washington against us," Russia's embassy in the US said in a statement.

"The measures we take are fully consistent with our international legal obligations," it read. 

Because of remarks made by President Vladimir Putin during the Ukraine conflict, the United States has declared that the world faces the gravest nuclear threat since the 1962 Cuban Missile Crisis, but Moscow claims that its position has been misinterpreted.

Putin, who has framed the Ukraine conflict as a struggle for Russia's survival against an aggressive West, has repeatedly warned that Russia, which possesses more nuclear weapons than any other country, will use any means necessary to defend itself.

Tactical nuclear weapons are used for tactical gains on the battlefield and have a lower yield than strategic nuclear weapons designed to destroy cities in the United States, Europe, or Russia.

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The Russian Embassy criticised the United States' criticism of Moscow's planned deployment, saying that "before blaming others, Washington could use some introspection."

Since President Dwight D. Eisenhower authorised their deployment during the Cold War to counter the perceived threat from the Soviet Union, the United States has deployed nuclear weapons in Western Europe. In 1954, the United States deployed its first nuclear weapons in Europe, in Britain.

Much of the current US deployment is classified, but according to the Federation of American Scientists, the US has 100 B61 tactical nuclear weapons deployed in Europe, including Italy, Germany, Turkey, Belgium, and the Netherlands.